Discovered
by Shnuffles
Summary: The statute has been broken. They know. They know, and they won't rest until we are gone.
1. Beginnings

**Author's note:** I, even though I would like to be, am not J.K.R, likewise I do not own the characters places or spells used in the Harry Potter Series. A few original characters may be in this and those are of my own design. Please read and reply!

P.S Chapter one is almost like a Prologue.

**Chapter 1:**

The minister summed it up perfectly, "These are dark times, there is no denying it." A young man heard the slow, deep voice over the wizarding wireless. His dark eyes, filled with sadness and apprehension, stared out the open window. A slight breeze ruffled his already tousled hair. He heard a light sob behind him and turned to see his wife kneeling on the floor, her arms clutched around two of the couple's three children. He knelt next to her and with a quick gesture, turned off the radio. He cupped his hand under her chin and lifted her face so her eyes met his.

He spoke to her in a soft voice, "We'll make it through."

"How?" she countered, her eyes sparkling with tears, "We can't trust the ministry, that much is clear. He knows you have fought against his forces on many occasions. They will come."

"And we will fight with every last ounce of strength we possess."

The woman buried her face in his shoulder, her body shaking as she sobbed into his shoulder. All she could do was nod. The eldest of their children, who was about thirteen, came down the stairs, a fire in her young eyes. She held her wand out and said, "I will fight with you."

Her mother shook her head, "No. Your father and I will fight. You and your brothers will go stay with…." She wasn't able to finish her sentence. The whole house shuddered as the door flew off its hinges. The children screamed as three masked and cloaked figures appeared in the doorway.

Their mother stepped in front of the children, as if to shield them. For a moment, both sides stood facing one another, each waiting for the other to strike the first blow.

The young man spoke first, his voice low, "Well, you certainly don't waste anytime do you." He punctuated his words with a low laugh.

"No, we don't" came the haughty reply. One of the Deatheaters raised his wand and hissed, "Avada Kedavra." There was a flash of green light and the man fell to the ground.

"Run," hissed the woman to her children. She charged the Deatheaters firing jinx after jinx into their midst. The boys turned to flee but twin bolts of green light caught them before they could get to far.

"Stupefy" the girl shouted. One Deatheater fell but before he hit the ground, the girl too crashed to the ground illuminated by a spell sent by another death-eater.

"I'm sorry" whispered her mother. She turned to the Deatheaters and was illuminated in green. The Deatheaters made quick work of cleaning the area, moving the bodies out to a field, far away from the house, but very close to the home of the Weasleys.

The family was found and their deaths were reported. Their house stood empty, never found.

**Author's note, again: **Currently at work on the next chapter. It'll be longer, I promise.


	2. Found

**Author's note: **Thank you to anyone who has read to the story. If you ask me questions I will try to answer them in the next, or so installment of the story. Be patient though, I do have school and other stuff. I'm still not J.K.R.

**Chapter 2**

"Bulldoze these trees over here," came a gruff and tired yell, "We've got a deadline to meet and if you don't meet it you ain't getting paid." The construction worker wiped sweat off his brow and shaded his eyes. He cursed under his breath at the amount of work left to be done.

His employees swore at the harshness of their boss but they drove their machinery quickly. Money was a good enough incentive for them. A shout came from a worker near the front of the line. "Roger, come look at this!"

The site manager growled under his breath, "this had better be good." He made his way past the paused tractors, cranes and bulldozers and saw what had shocked his worker. There, in the middle of a small field sat a house, sitting on a crooked foundation that looked like it should have never been able to stand. "What in the blazes is this?" the man asked, his voice a mixture of awe and annoyance.

A couple of the workers walked carefully into the house, their eyes scanning every detail. From the titles of books on the bookshelves which included works such as, _Fantastic Magical Beasts and Where to Find Them _by Newt Scamander, _Household Brews: Potions for Housekeeping _by Delilah Brewer, a _Gilderoy Lockheart's Guide to Household Pests _written of course by Gilderoy Lockheart. The construction workers stood in the middle of the room scratching their heads in confusion. A few of the more adventurous members of the crew walked up the creaky stairs and began looking in the different rooms.

The first appeared to be a boys room. The colors were all white and greens of different shades. The bed cover and many posters had a logo of a leprechaun and said Ireland Quidditch. To the astonishment of the workers the posters were moving. Still more surprises were to be found in the other rooms, such as the next room over which contained a broomstick, covered in dust. It was a very strange looking broom and one of the workers walked over to it and brushed the dust off. Immediately the broom sprang to life and began to zoom around the room. In the last child's room they found the most curious things of all. Books were scattered everywhere. They were books like, _Hogwarts a History, Standard Book of Spells: Grade Three, _and _Unfogging the Future. _Letters were scattered around the room, some containing moving pictures, others just confusing words. The wall was scattered with posters of bands such as the _Weird Sisters _and the _Hobgoblins. _

The workers gathered up everything they could and brought it downstairs. Roger was sitting on an old couch, dust motes swirling in then air around him, staring at the photographs of the family perched on the mantle.

One of the others came up behind him and asked, "Why do you think they left in such a hurry?"

Without answering, Roger held up the letter that was clutched in his hand. The worker took it and read it aloud:

_Dear Lawrence,_

_You have undoubtedly heard that the ministry has fallen. I was only just able to send this letter before they searched my office. I think I was able to bypass the security measures. Hopefully the letter won't be searched. You must flee, immediately. Take your family. He knows where you are, Lawrence. Have no doubt about that. Do not send your children back to Hogwarts; it is no longer safe for them there. Leave no traces. Tell no one where you are going. Do not reply. Hopefully we will meet again. Go safely my friend and do not rely on your protective charms, they have the full force of the ministry behind them now._

_Arthur_

Roger turned to the others and said, "Does anyone have a camera?" A few hands were raised into the air, the people connected to them unable to find their voices. Roger nodded at them and said, "Take pictures of everything. Grab the books and pictures." The air was filled with the rapid-fire clicks of half a dozen cameras all going at the same time.

One of the non photo taking workers walked over to Roger and asked in a low voice, "What does this mean?"

Roger shook his head, indicating that this was far beyond something that could be put into words. The crew finished their documentation and they bundled everything together.

The evidence was presented to the government officials. It was leaked into the media and soon the knowledge had become main stream. The workers who had uncovered the homes were interviewed on muggle television programs and quoted in newspaper articles. The Minister of Magic was facing a full breakdown of the statute of secrecy.

* * *

><p>Kingsley Shacklebolt sat in a plush chair behind his desk which for once was clear of the piles of paper work. He held the newest edition of the Quibbler, now associated with the Daily Prophet and was reading an article titled "Corruption in the Broomstick Industry." Every now and then he would let out a low chuckle at the farfetched ideas of Xenophilius and his new co-editor, Luna. His reading was interrupted when the door to his office flew open and Percy Weasley rushed in, a look of panic on his face. "Minister," he gasped, "You'd better see this." He handed Kingsley a copy of a muggle newspaper.<p>

The Minister's eyes grew wide as he read the headline; "Magic: Myth is Now Truth?"

His eyes moved back and forth as he scanned the article:

"Construction workers found more than trees when working on a job west of London. They found an old house but that's not the interesting thing. Inside the house they found books and other items all concerned with magic, but not your magic of card tricks and illusions. Spell and potion books were found, moving pictures were on the walls among other things. For a complete list of items found and photographs of some of them including a letter which may explain why the house was abandoned can be found on page five."

Kingsley flipped to the page and his brow furrowed as he read through the list. Fighting to keep his voice calm he turned to Percy and said, "I want a full damage report as soon as you can get it." Percy nodded and Kingsley continued, "Get the head of every department into meeting room twelve immediately." Percy nodded again and raced out of the room.

Kingsley folded his hands on his desk and sighed. He knew that after tonight, nothing would be the same.


End file.
